A Gift of Love
by Kristen3
Summary: Daphne volunteers to wrap gifts at the mall for charity, and ends up helping a young man make a potentially life-altering decision. One-shot. Written as a gift for Melinda (samanddianefan10).


**Author's Note: **This is a bit of Christmas fluff that wouldn't go away. I'm dedicating it to Melinda (**samanddianefan10**) for her love and support for all of my stories! :)

Daphne could hardly wait to begin her volunteer work. Helping others was second nature for her, but this was different from what she normally did in looking after Martin or the other elderly patients she'd had. She would be spending the day at the mall, wrapping gifts for charity. It sounded like fun, and Daphne almost wondered how something she'd been doing for years could even be considered work.

But this wasn't quite the same as wrapping presents for her friends and family. No, it would be done for a good cause. A local women's shelter had reached out to Roz, as the new head of KACL, to see if anyone at the station would be able to help with their fundraiser. Most of KACL's employees had declined, citing holiday plans with their own families, or else they'd just plain ignored the flyer Roz sent around. But when she mentioned it to Daphne in passing, she gained an enthusiastic volunteer.

As she sat at the table where she would wrap gifts for the mall's shoppers, Daphne felt a rush of gratitude for her husband, Niles. He was more than willing to entertain their young son for a few hours while she did this. Daphne loved being a mother more than anything, but it wasn't always easy, and she was well aware that raising a child on her own would be much harder.

The mall was busy, of course. Shoppers rushed everywhere, trying to buy last-minute gifts. But, at first, no one seemed to even notice she was there. She'd been so excited about doing this, and so far, she hadn't raised a cent or helped anyone. Daphne felt like a failure as she sat there, staring at the ground. But suddenly, a voice made her look up.

"Hi, can you wrap this for me?" A young man stood in front of her, holding out a small box.

"Of course," Daphne replied, smiling. She noticed that the box had the name of the jewelry store nearby. "This must be for someone special."

The young man blushed. "Yeah."

"Well, I have lots of different kinds of wrapping paper here. Which one would you like?" She had several rolls spread out in front of her.

The man looked at them all nervously. "I'm not sure."

"Well, what does she like?" His expression reminded Daphne a bit of Niles, back when they were just friends. She wondered if he might be in a similar situation. She decided to help him relax a bit. "How about I just pick something?" she asked.

"Thank you," the man answered, breathing an obvious sigh of relief. "This is for a friend of mine...well, right now, she's just a friend, but I'm hoping to change that, if you know what I mean."

_I knew it_, Daphne thought. "I do. Very well, in fact. I had a man who wanted to be more than friends with me once. He was too shy to tell me how he felt, and for the longest time, I hadn't a clue."

"Really?"

Daphne nodded. "He waited so long to make his move that he nearly lost me. I was all set to marry someone else, until he finally told me. Little did he know that I had been thinking about him, too, and I called off me wedding."

"Wow, sounds romantic!"

"Yes," Daphne said, as she carefully Scotch taped paper onto the box. The giftwrap she'd chosen was decorated with teddy bears wearing Santa hats. The bears were adorable, and she hoped the object of this man's affections would agree. "We ran off together in his father's Winnebago. It wasn't easy, of course, and me fiancee wasn't exactly happy. But we had to follow our hearts."

"So, what happened then?" the man asked. It was clear from his body language that her story was helping him.

"Oh, nothing much. We just got married and had a little boy. But, you see, none of this would've ever happened if he hadn't let me know how he felt before it was too late. I know this sort of thing isn't easy. Taking a chance can be scary. But I knew I didn't want to be asking meself years from now, 'What if?'"

"I'm so glad you told me all this. I came down here on a whim. I've been thinking about this girl a lot lately, and how we might really work as a couple. But she's got no idea how I feel, and I don't want to blow it."

"If you just speak from your heart, I'm sure your friend will see how you feel, and it will all work out." Daphne held out the box, now wrapped.

"Thanks!" The young man took the present from her. He had a huge smile on his face, and there wasn't a trace of his earlier anxiety.

Daphne couldn't help smiling herself. "You're welcome." Suddenly, she thought back to all those Christmases she'd spent with the Crane family, long before she was really a Crane herself. One memory stood out. "You know, it took me a while to realize I had feelings for Niles. But I know just when they started. We were talking out on the balcony of his brother's building. I was cold, and he took off his jacket to give me, when I hadn't even asked. I knew then that he was the most caring man I'd ever met. It's Christmas. You never know what could happen."

"Wow, thanks! You don't know how much I appreciate this. Wrapping this gift for me, _and_ telling me your story. I don't know if I'd have had the courage to do this if you hadn't told me about your husband." He glanced at the donation jar and quickly opened his wallet. Before Daphne could stop him, he slipped a $20 bill into it.

Never in her wildest dreams had Daphne expected such a large donation for just one gift. She knew it would certainly help the shelter. "Thank you. I hope you have a very merry Christmas."

The young man grinned. "Me, too. Tell your husband thank you. I hope you have a wonderful holiday with him and your little boy."

Daphne thought of David. He was so excited, and she could hardly wait to see him open his gifts. She and Niles would also be exchanging presents, of course. But between buying everything, decorating a tree, and all the other things the holidays entailed, sometimes the spirit of the holiday could get lost in the shuffle. Right now, though, Daphne was well aware that many of the best things in her life would not be found under the tree. What really mattered was the people who would be around her this Christmas, and hopefully for many more to come.

**The End**


End file.
